My finger puppet crafts are some of the most popular on Craft Jr., especially this Halloween puppet set – one of my personal favorites, too!

Related Pages: Owl Crafts, Fall Pumpkin Decorations, Giraffe Sock Puppet

Fall Kids Crafts - Scarecrow, Squirrel, Owl, Raccoon and Autumn Tree Finger Puppets

Fall Finger Puppets Craft Materials List

I’ve placed a photograph next to each finger puppet with the exact materials needed. All of them require a very easy to find set of stuff:

Pipe Cleaners

Pom Poms

Googly Eyes

Glue (Hot glue gun works best, but I’ve since discovered that even regular glue will suffice, it just takes longer to dry)

Wire Cutters (So you don’t ruin your scissors cutting the pipe cleaners)

How to Make These Fall Puppet Crafts

Please refer to the original Easter finger puppets post for general assembly instructions.

It explains the general instructions on how to wind the pipe cleaners around your finger and how to attach the pom poms accurately.

Fall Scarecrow Finger Puppet

Fall Scarecrow Finger Puppet Craft

First wind the two full lenth green pipe cleaners together around your finger tip to form the puppet base.

Cut 5 pieces of yellow pipe cleaner for his straw ‘hair’ – make them slightly different lengths between 3/4″ and 1″ inch.

Make the scarecrow hat as shown:

Pipe Cleaner Scarecrow Hat

Cut two 1″ pieces of yellow pipe cleaner for his straw hands – attach them by bending the wire to both ends of a 4″ piece of green pipe cleaner.

It’s easiest to glue the straw hair to the inside of the hat, then glue the hat onto the pom pom head.

Glue the mini red pom pom on for the nose, then glue on the googly eyes. Then glue his head onto the puppet base.

Lastly, slide the scarecrow arms between the finger puppet coils

Cute Squirrel Finger Puppet

Fall Squirrel Finger Puppet Craft

First wind the two full length brown pipe cleaners together around your finger tip to form the puppet base.

Glue a mini black pom pom onto the squirrel face for his nose, and then glue on the googly eyes.

Snip two 3/4 inch pieces of brown pipe cleaner and bend them into a V. Glue them onto the top of the head for the ears.

Bend a 2.5″ piece of pipe cleaner into the form of small front paws – here’s a closeup:

Squirrel (and same for the Raccoon) Paws

This picture is actually the paws upside down – simply slip the U – end in between the puppet base coils near the top

For the squirrel tail , use varied-width pipe cleaners and clip off one section, leaving the narrow part a little longer on one end. You’ll use this extra length to attach it to the back of the finger puppet base.

Lastly, glue his head onto the puppet base.

Snow Owl Finger Puppet

Snow Owl Finger Puppet Craft

First wind the two full length white pipe cleaners together around your finger tip to form the puppet base. NOTE: For some strange reason, this owl looks much better if he is shorter than the others – I squished my coils together a lot on him.

Bend a short 2-3 inch piece of white pipe cleaner into a tiny figure eight – you’ll probably need to clip off an end.

Cut a small 1″ inch piece of tan pipe cleaner and bend it into a V for the beak.

Glue the figure eight and beak onto the white pom pom, then glue the googly eyes into the centers of each loop of the figure eight.

Bend a 1″inch piece of brown pipe cleaner into a simple U – slide it in between the coils at the bottom for his claws, just letting the ends peek out.

Form the wings with one long white pipe cleaner as shown. Do the same to the other end to form both wings – you’ll again probably have to clip off some excess:

Pipe Cleaner Owl Wings

Slide them in between the puppet base coils, and glue the head onto the puppet base.

Rocky Raccoon Finger Puppet

(This one was my kids’ favorite!)

Fall Raccoon Finger Puppet Craft

First wind the two full length gray pipe cleaners together around your finger tip to form the puppet base.

Bend a short 2-3 inch piece of black pipe cleaner into a tiny figure eight – you’ll probably need to clip off an end.

Snip two 3/4 inch pieces of black pipe cleaner and bend them into a V. Glue them onto the top of the pom pom head for the ears. Then glue the figure eight onto the face for his ‘sunglasses’ eyes, gluing the googly eyes into the middle of the loops. Glue a mini pink pom pom into the center for his nose.

Bend a 2.5″ piece of pipe cleaner into the form of small front paws – see the closeup in the squirrel instructions above. Slide it in between the coils.

To make the tail, use a very thin round object (like a bamboo skewer) to wind a black and gray pipe cleaner together as shown:

Pipe Cleaner Raccoon Tail

Leave a bit of straight length at the end so that you can attach the tail to the puppet base.

Autumn Tree Finger Puppet

(This one was my son’s idea!)

Autumn Tree Finger Puppet Craft

First wind the two full length brown pipe cleaners together around your finger tip to form the puppet base.

Glue a mini yellow pom pom onto the larger pom pom face for his nose, and then glue on the googly eyes.

Cut 10-15 pieces of brown pipe cleaner for the branches – make them between 2″ and 3″ inches long. Twist two or three of them together randomly in the shapes of branches.

Glue a medium sized pom pom onto most of the ends of the branches, leaving some empty. These branches can easily get too heavy, so don’t overdo it.

Get a hefty amount of glue onto the other end of the branches and stick it right into the tree head.

More Kids Fall Crafts from Other Great Craft Blogs!

Apple Stamped Cards

Fall Butterfly Craft

Pumpkins on a Popsicle Stick Fence

Fall Nature Wreath

Easy Leaf Glitter Trees

Your octopus doesn't have to be sad, but for some reason, Dot felt that ours was. Who am I to argue with and ar-TEEST?

We recently took a family trip to Seattle, and weeks later, Dot is still talking about the octopus we saw at the Seattle Aquarium.  We decided last week to make our own octopus.

Related Pages: Endangered Ocean Animal Coloring Pages, Kids Beach Crafts

What you need to make a paper bag octopus:

• Lunch-size paper bag
• Markers or crayons
• Newspaper
• Googly eyes
• White glue
• Ribbon/String

A few simple craft supplies are all you need to make a paper bag octopus.

Crumple enough newspaper to fill the bottom of the paper bag about 1/3-1/2 way full.

Gather the bag below the stuffing and tie it off to make your octopus' neck.

Glue on some googly eyes, and draw in the rest of the face with your marker.

Cut the remaining part of the bag into eight pieces to make your octopus' legs. We drew on some suckers, too.

You'll have tons of fun making this Creative Hands Paper Plate Caterpillar!

Related Pages: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities and Lesson Plan, Recycled Caterpillar Craft

Paper Plate Caterpillar Materials List

1 small paper plate

1 green foam sheet (5 ½ inches x 8 ½ inches)

1 red foam sheet (5 ½ inches x 8 ½ inches)

1 yellow foam sheet (5 ½ inches x 8 ½ inches)

1 orange foam sheet (5 ½ inches x 8 ½ inches)

2 small red poms (50 mm)

1 small yellow pom (50 mm)

2 googly eyes (1/2 inch)

1 bottle craft foam glue

1 bottle blue acrylic paint

1 paintbrush

1 hole puncher

1 scissors

1 pencil

paper towels or napkins

We love working regular household items like paper plates into projects.

How to Make this Paper Plate Caterpillar Craft

Lay down the paper towels and paint the top of the paper plate blue. Let it dry for a few hours.

Projects that start off with painting are always fun!

Using the caterpillar template, trace and cut out six or seven body parts from the paper plate for your caterpillar, depending on how long you want your critter to be. Glue the parts together as shown. Let dry.

Make sure you put down enough napkins or paper towels. Paint can easily get messy.

Using the template, trace and cut out six or seven pairs of legs in the orange foam.

If you need help, ask an adult to cut out the legs for you.

Take the green, red and yellow foam sheets and punch out five to seven holes each, depending on how you want to decorate your caterpillar. Start gluing the foam dots to your caterpillar and glue the legs underneath. TIP: Keep paper towel scraps nearby in case you need to wipe away extra glue.

Give the caterpillar body enough time to dry before you start adding embellishments.

With the center of the plate—that should be the only part left over—cut out a small head or use the template. Decorate the head with 2 googly eyes, a small yellow pom for the nose and a red foam smile for the mouth. For the mouth, you also can use the template.

If you need help, ask an adult to cut out the mouth.

Using the template, trace and cut out the antenna in orange foam. Glue 2 small red poms to each end. Glue the antenna under the head. Then glue the head to the body and let dry.

Your Paper Plate Caterpillar is almost complete!

Now your Paper Plate Caterpillar Craft is finished! What other critter could you make out of paper plates?

Related Pages: Pig Coloring Pages, Printable Pig Mask

What you’ll need to make your own piggy ears scrap felt craft:

• Pink felt
• White batting
• Headband
• Scissors
• Glue (we used hot glue, but if you’re more patient, your kiddo can totally do this with white glue)

Scrap supplies for this toddler craft.

Cut the pink felt into two diamonds. We folded it in half and cut out a triangle. (You get to learn about two shapes at once!)

Cut two triangles, a bit smaller than the pink ones, from your scrap batting.

Add glue to one side of the diamond and wrap it around the headband.

Fold it in half and then add the other ear to bring your piggy costume to life.

Glue on the batting.

You can't tell me that's not the cutest thing you've seen all day.

What I Learned the Hard Way: We were totally making this up on the fly, so I didn’t think to measure the ears out in advance; and they’re a little on the big side.  One of my friends suggested that maybe we were playing Olivia from the children’s books.  Yeah…that’s…that’s totally what I was going for!

Recycled baby food jar into a friendly puppy.

Some days crafts are about making something nice.  Other days they’re about keeping the kids busy.  If you’re looking for a craft for kids that utilizes things you already have on hand, these baby food jar pals will fit the bill.  I used stuff we already had, including a few things out of the craft box, and they went together pretty quickly.

Related Pages: Animal Crafts, Giraffe Sock Puppet, Owl Crafts for Kids

What you need to make baby food jar pals:

• Empty baby food jar
• Cotton balls
• Colored pom poms
• Construction paper or pipe cleaners for ears
• Googly eyes
• Hot glue

Basic craft supplies for a baby food jar pal.

Have your kid fill the baby food (or other jar) with cotton balls.

We also bunched some colored pom poms in to make “spots” on our doggie.  Turn the jar upside down so that the lid makes a base with a neck.

Glue on googley eyes.

Use pom poms to give your new pal the rest of his face.

Cut out two ears (or make them from pipe cleaners). Glue them to your jar.

Dot made a bunny, while I made a dog.

I added a collar to the dog by gluing a thin strip of construction paper around the lid of the jar and putting a button on the front.

What I Learned the Hard Way: My kid is really uncomfortable with the idea that the top of the jar could become the bottom, so she left the lid at the top for her bunny.

If you have kitties, then this is a super-awesome and simple sewing project. Better yet, you can use scrap fabric or felt, and use your own catnip or buy it for a $1 buck at the dollar store. It is simple enough that as long as your child can handle scissors and a needle and thread, they can make this sewing project all by themselves – or with a little help from an adult, even a 3-4 year old can sew it!

Related Pages: Cat Coloring Pages, Easy Fabric Flower Brooch, Printable Cat Masks

Easy Catnip Mouse Sewing Pattern

Catnip Mouse Materials

5″ inch square piece of felt or scrap fabric

(2) 1/2″ inch pom poms for ears, (1)  1/4″ inch  pom pom for nose, (2) 1/8″ inch pom poms for eyes

6″ inches or so length of yarn for tail

Pillow stuffing or cotton balls

Catnip

Small yarn needle

How to Make a Catnip Mouse

Print the free pattern for the stuffed mouse, and cut out one piece of fabric in the heart shape.

Free Printable Catnip Mouse Pattern

Fold the heart in half and use a whipstitch or blanket stitch to sew the mouse closed, leaving a 1 1/2″ inch opening at the bottom of the heart as shown:

Catnip Mouse Tutorial

Here’s a quick video to demonstrate the whipstitch:

Turn the mouse inside out and stuff it tightly with your catnip and stuffing or cotton balls. Be sure to get a lot of catnip in there (even more than you see in this picture)!

Stuffing the Mouse Toy

After you’re done stuffing the mouse toy, stitch the opening closed squishing the end into the shape a ‘Y’ to make a spot for the pom pom nose.

Finishing the Mouse Toy

Before you tie off the thread, sew the nose into place.

Sewing on the Mouse Toy Nose

With a small yarn needle, pull through one stitch with the yarn tail. Adults might need to help little children with this step because the yarn is a little thick to pull through the hole.

Attaching the yarn mouse tail

Tie off the yarn tail and clip the excess

Use fabric glue to attach the ears and eyes – and your catnip mouse toy is all done!

Finished Catnip Mouse Toy

Remember, this is Day 5 of Twleve Days of Gifts Kids Can Make! 5 down, 7 more to go!

Thanksgiving Turkey Luminary	Cute Paper Bag Turkeys	Brown Bag Thanksgiving Turkey Craft	Turkey Hat Craft
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For more Turkey Day fun, check out these Thanksgiving handprint crafts, more turkey crafts, and these printable turkey pinwheel crafts!

So, for all the missing mismatched socks we have in this house, I should have a sock puppet museum by now. Seriously. So to keep with our recycled crafts theme of the week for Earth Day, here’s a pretty darn cute animal sock puppet idea.

What You Need to Make this Giraffe Animal Sock Puppet

• An old sock – preferably tan and long-ish, like an adult size dress sock
• One brown pipe cleaner
• Two brown pom poms
• Two googly eyes
• Brown and black paint
• Paint brush
• Glue gun
• Wire clippers

Do all your prep work before you start painting, because you’ll be assembling most of this puppet while it is on your hand, which will make it a little tricky to do other things.

Step One: Cut the pipe cleaner into 4 pieces. 2 pieces are 1″ inch long, 2 pieces are 2″ inches long.

Bend the longer pieces in half to form the ears.

With the glue gun, glue one end of the shorter pieces into the center of the pom poms. These are the giraffe horns.

Step Two: Get your paint and brush ready, and make sure it is slightly watery like tempera or acrylic paint in the containers in the photo above. If you’re using thicker paints, it will be much harder to get it to sink into the sock fibers.

Step Three: Put the sock onto your hand, with your fingers going into the toe of the sock, and your thumb going into the heel like this:

Step Four: Paint spots on the sock. They should be random, mishapen spots like on a real giraffe. For a ‘realistic effect’ (ha!), you can make the spots smaller as they get closer to the head. Then paint two black spots on the nose as shown in the first photo for the nose holes.

Step Five: Use the hot glue gun to glue the googly eyes, pipe cleaner ears, and pom pom horns onto the head. This sounds like it might be tricky, but it isn’t. Just put a drop of the glue the size of a small pea where you want the parts, and stick them on. I glued the ears into the fold of the sock that you can see in the photo above, directly to the left of the paint brush at the back of the puppet mouth.

Step Six: Play with your sock puppet!

Animal Sock Puppet: Giraffe

For you animal lovers, be sure to check out Animal Jr., with tons of animal printables, animal coloring pages, and even a few giraffes hanging around.

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Check out all of our Halloween crafts, or our huge amount of Halloween activities, printables and costumes across all Woo! Jr. Kids Activity sites.